Human studies have indicated the importance of food sequence in pH changes in dental plaque in situ. This concept has been extended by feeding rats according to a programmed sequence of foods, interspersing foods of low potential cariogenicity (peanuts, cheese) between exposures to cariogenic diet. With cheese (but not peanuts) caries and Strep. mutans counts were reduced compared with controls fed cariogenic diet alone, in partial agreement with the human studies.